A decade after House Republicans waged a pitched battle to close down the National Endowment for the Arts, President Bush hosted a White House dinner last week to honor of 40th anniversary of the tax-funded agency and its sister, the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Bush hailed President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “wisdom to start both these programs,” and saluted the NEA for “supporting our nation’s ideals, institutions, and emerging talents.” Robert Mapplethorpe and Andres Serrano would be proud.
